Apparatus for handling hosiery



Sept. l0, 1963 c. w. MlN'roN APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 17. 1961 INVENTOR. CLARENCE W. MmToN w. Mh W ATTORNEYS Sept. 10, 1963 c. w. MINToN APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17. 1961 INVENTOR. CLARENCE- W. MlNroN Bywmmmngk ATTORNEYS i 3,103,302 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY Clarence Webb Minton, Nashville, Tenn., assignor to Morpnl, Incorporated, Greensboro, N.C., a corporation of North Carolinav Filed May 17, 1961, Ser. No. 110,801 2 Claims. (Cl. 223-39) This invention relates to the handling of hosiery and is particularly, although not exclusively, applicable to the handling of womens hosiery incidental to inspection thereof.

Womens hosiery usually must be positioned upon various forms, for instance inspecting or boarding forms, at least several times as manufactured under present procedures. r[he facility and rapidity with which each such positioning can be effected therefore has Ian appreciable effect upon the cost of manufacture of the hosiery. Additionally, these factors have a direct bearing upon ythe number of hose that `an operator or employee can process before becoming unduly fatigued.

Heretofore, the positioning of womens hosiery upon inspection forms has been a particularly time-consuming, cumbersome and fatiguing operation. It has cusftomarily been performed by an operator placing the welt opening of each hose vover the free end of a form, and then pulling the welt of the hose toward the distal end of the form until the entire hose is donned thereon. Since the hosiery may have a length of some three feet, this requires considerable movement on the part of the operator. Such movement is time consuming and additionally, when repetitions, is extremely fatigu'ing. Consequently, both the morale and the production of employees performing this operation have frequently been poor.

With the foregoing in mind, a primary object of this invention is the provision of apparatus for handling hosiery as discussed above with greater rapidity, facility, and without excessive operator fatigue. Another object, related to and stemming from the foregoing, is the reduction of hosiery manufacturing and/or processing costs.

Another related and more specic object is lthe elimination of the necessity for excessive operator movement in the positioning of hosiery upon hosiery forms. When employing the teachings of the instant invention, the hands and arms of an operator need move but a matter of inches to position hose -upon a form, by reason of which the positioning can be ,accomplished more quickly and easily than has heretofore been possible.

A still more specific object is the provision of hosiery handling apparatus including an elongate hoisery form that is mounted for rccipuocatory movement along a predetermined path and for rotative movement about its longitudinal axis. It has been found that apparatus including a hoisery :form thus movable is particularly satisfactory -and advantageous ior the inspection of Womens hosiery during the course of their manufacture.

Still other objects and 'advantages will be in part evident and in part pointed out hereinafter in the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 is `a perspective View of the apparatus in use, the hosiery form thereof being shown in its retracted position by solid lines and in is projected position by dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the bracket and associated components secured to the lower end of the hosiery form shown in FIGURE 1;

United States Patent() 3,*10'3 ,3'02 Patented Sept. 10, 1963 ice FIGURE 4 is a'section taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3, dotted lines being employed Ito illus- `trate the components shown in another relative rotative position;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged plan view, partially in section and taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIGURE 1, of thek treadle-actuated valve of the apparatus; and

FIGURE 6 is a schematic View of ,the iluid pressure :system of the apparatus.

In (the illustrative embodiment of the drawings, the invention is shown as applied to the operation of initial or preliminary inspection of womens hosiery, that is to the inspection thereof immediately `ater knitting Iand prior to the toe portion of the hose being closed by seaming or looping. It will be appreciated, however, that this is for purposes of illustration only, and that fthe invention is applicable to other operations. Similarly, although the drawings is vertically disposed, it will subsequently be apparent that vapparatus embodying the invention mightk be otherwise oriented Without departing from the teachings herein.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the apparatus shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 includes` a supporting base 10 having a anged sleeve portion 12 and an integral annular portion 14. Base 10 is secured by any suitable means, such as by bolts 16 extending through annular portion 14 thereof, to a frame 18, which may be the floor of a mill or of a platform supported thereon, such Ithat sleeve portion 1:2 is disposed in an upright position.` An opening 20 is provided in 'frame 18 below sleeve portion 12 of base 10, as best shown in FIGURE 2. An elongate pressure cylinder 22 extends through base 10 and opening 20 and is Ifrictionally clamped Ito the former in :a well known manner lby bolts 24 which extend through and interconnect the flanges of sleeve portion 12 thereof. When thus secured, the greater length of cylinder 22 :extends on that side of frame 18 opposite base 10, that is, below frame 18 as the apparatus is shown in the drawings. n

Cylinder 22 is provided with upper and lower end caps or heads 26, 28, respectively, which may be secured thereto by any suitable means, such as b-y :the flanged rerainer ring assemblies 30 shown in FIGURE 2. Cylinder heads 26, 28 are provided with ports 33, 35, respectively, for lthe passage of pressurized uid, lsuch as air, to and from cylinder 22. Upper head 26 is also provided With a centrally located vertical bore, through which extends a.

rod 32 having its lower end secured to a piston 34 mounted for reciprocatory movement within cylinder 22 between heads 26, 2S. O-rings 36 or the like are provided adjacent heads 26, 28 so as to prevent the passage of compressed fluid from cylinder 22 except through ports 32, 34, in a manner described subsequently herein.

The upper end of rod 32 is provided with a reduced portion 38 which, due to the length of the rod, is at all times disposed exteriorally of cylinder 22 irrespective of the position of piston 34 therein. A pair of spaced bearings 40 are `disposed about and secured to reduced portion 38 of rod 32, as by means of a press tit between their inner races and the reduced end portion. It desired, a nut and Washer 42 may also be provided in the upper end of rod 32 so as to additionally insure against bearings 40 being displaced from reduced portion 38 thereof. v The outer races of bearings 40 are secured, as by means of a press fit, to and within the generally `cylindrical stem portion 44 (see FIGURE 2) of a substantially T-shaped bracket member 46 (see FIGURE l), `such that stem portion 44 encloses and is concentrically disposed about the bea-rings and the upper length of rod 32.

By virtue of the construction thus far described, it will the length of the stroke of form 66 may conveniently be approximately equal to the length of the hosiery to be inspected. lf these lengths are exactly equal, .and the donning operation is initiated by an operator positioning the welt opening of the hose in alinement with and at the same height as the terminal edge of free end portion 68 of the form, donning of the hose upon the form Will be accomplished by movement of the form to its projected position without any movement of the welt portion of the hose whatsoever. With the same stroke, however, if the operation is initiated by the operator positioning the welt opening adjacent but a few inches above free end portion 68 of the form, then the operator must move the welt opening of the hose downwardly a corresponding few inches in order to completely don the hose upon the form. This downward movement may be performed as the form is moving upwardly, or after it is in its projected position. Or if the operation is initiated by the operator positioning the welt opening of the hose upon free end portion 68 of the form to a limited extent, and again assuming the stroke exactly equals the length of the hose, then the welt of the hose will be moved upwardly with the form during the last few inches -of the stroke of the latter. Irrespective of which procedure is followed, it will be appreciated that at most =`only very limited movement on the part of the operator is required. Similarly, the benets of the instant invention can be realized even though the stroke of form 66 is slightly greater or less than the length of the hosiery being inspected. Irrespective of which of the foregoing techniques is employed, the donning operation can be accomplished quickly, easily, and without undue operator fatigue since the welt of the hose is maintained substantially stationary.

In the drawings and specication there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although speciiic terms are employed, they `are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the inven-tion being dened in the claims..

That which isclaimed is:

1. Hosiery handling apparatus comprising a base, an elongate hosiery form, means carried by said base mounting said form for reciprocatory movement along a predetermined path between extended and retracted positions and for limited rotary movement about its longitudinal axis, means for resiliently biasing said form to a predetermined rotative position. and fluid pressure means operatively connected to said form for reciprocating the same.

2. Hosiery handling apparatus comprising a base, a pressure cylinder carried by said base, a piston mounted for reciprocatory movement within said cylinder, a rod connected to said piston for reciprocatory movement therewith, said rod extending from and having a portion disposed exteriorly of said cylinder, an elongate hosiery form, bracket means secured to one end of said form, bearing means interconnecting said bracket means and said exteriorly disposed portion of said rod, said form and said bracket being rotatably movable relative to said rod about the longitudinal axis of said form and being reciprocatorily movable with said rod relative to said cylinder along a predetermined path, co-operating means on said bracket and said rod limiting said form and said bracket to limited rotary movement between rst and second extreme rotative positions, spring means carried by said bracket resiliently urging said bracket and said form to said first rotative extreme position thereof, and means for conducting fluid under pressure to said cylinder when desired so as to reciprocate said piston and thereby reciprocate said form along said predetermined path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 503,692 Barbeau Aug. 22, 1893 1,750,005 Hemmerich Mar. 11, 1930 1,887,783 Pierson Nov. l5, 1932 1,962,878 Schmidt etal June 12, 1934 2,410,731 Hannerwald et al Nov. 5, 1946 2,516,054 Forse et al. July 18, 1950 2,898,021 Miles et al Aug. 4, 1959 

1. HOSIERY HANDLING APPARATUS COMPRISING A BASE, AN ELONGATE HOSIERY FORM, MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BASE MOUNTING SAID FORM FOR RECIPROCATORY MOVEMENT ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH BETWEEN EXTENDED AND RETRACTED POSITIONS AND FOR LIMITED ROTARY MOVEMENT ABOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL 